I did my leaf peeping with the wife today and ended up at Crawford's a few minutes before the notch train arrived, with the train being 10 cars long, they did something I didn't expect them to do, by the time the train stopped the Ronda Lee was alongside the rest room building, with the dining passengers getting off in between the station and restrooms. It didn't take long for hikers to start complaining when they realized the trail head was going to be blocked for some time. We didn't stay much longer having decided to go to Fabyan's for lunch. We finished up lunch in time to catch the train outside before departure and I can tell you for certain, we won't be seeing more than 10 cars on the notch for the foreseeable future. The engines blocks half of Base Station Rd for the duration of the brake test with 2 engines and 10 cars in tow. Adding more than 10 cars will require the siding to be extended westward or restore the other siding that's just west of Fabyan's, if that siding is longer.

It takes real skill to choke on air, fall up the stairs and trip over nothing. I have those skills.

b&m 1566 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:49 pm
Thank you for that info. So, it works out to be about $60 per mile to operate the steam engine. As for personnel, that too makes perfect sense, so I'm not surprised that you said that and it did cross my mind but it was after I submitted the post. The Conway Scenic certainly hasn't been immune to the struggles of finding help, that seems to be the reoccurring theme among every sector or business you can think of.

Well... I was pretty close. If estimating that each Conway trip ( 3 ) per day on average sold 200 seats at say an average of $20.00 each, it comes out to some $12,000.00 per day +/- it comes out to about 16% costing factor set-aside.

Diesel locomotives replaced steam powered locomotives because they were cheaper to operate,eliminating the need to buy huge quantities of coal, store huge amounts of water at various locations, stopping to take on water cut into time to get from point A to B. Time for boiler washings, what to do with the vast piles of coal ash that needed to be disposed of all the time. The men in the engines either suffering with heat or cold conditions, curtains helped but it was still a pain. Folks living around rail yards began to object to the constant smoke & soot in the air.

Diesels have weatherized cabs, have huge fuel tanks that enable them to travel long distances without having to stop for coal or water, the air was much cleaner as these diesel engines were pretty efficient, polluting less smoke. Still like the steam locomotive diesel engines, traction motors, generators, wheels still need to be serviced.

However.... there is something about seeing a part of our history of railroading that is still around, chugging, whistling, the smell of coal smoke, all the moving parts are visible for the most part, we can see what makes it move, the sights, sounds & smells of a steam locomotive makes guys like me lust for more, brings out the kid in me. Yeah.

I don't recall there being any type of fence anywhere a long that stretch of tracks. This incident is an absolute tragedy, there's really no other way to word it. I'm not going to speculate as to why that lady was on the tracks, I understand the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the incident. I hate sounding cliché but my thoughts and prayers go out to the railroad, the train crew and especially the engineer. I don't know what was done to keep the train full of little kids distracted and entertained for the 45 minutes while the train was held up for police and fire to attended to the emergency outside, I hope the parents were understanding and cooperative throughout the process. My thoughts and prayers also go out to the lady struck by the train and her family.

It takes real skill to choke on air, fall up the stairs and trip over nothing. I have those skills.